Category: Geography

To understand why people, first the natives then the Europeans, moved and settled where they did in Eastern America we need to understand a little bit about the geography of America from the Mississippis River Basin and east of the Mississippi River, especially the mountains and rivers which directed them.

The Appalachian Mountain Range is a series of Mountain Ranges, Plateaus, and Ridges which extends about 2000 miles southwest from Brunswick in Canada to East Tennessee and Northern Alabama.  It is divided into 3 Regions; North (Newfoundland to The Berkshires in MA and CT), Central (Hudson River Valley to New River [Tributary to Great Kanawha] in NC, VA, WV), and Southern (Blue Ridge Mountains and Cumberland Plateau) and provided a geographical divide  between the eastern seaboard and the midwest region.  The Adirondack Mountains are distinct from the Catskill Mountains and are not part of the Appalachian Range although their position impacts the diaspora.  

The Pleistocene Age ended about 11,700 years ago with the end of the last ice age.  The ice had covered almost all of Canada and parts of the Northern U.S.  The end of the ice age opened up present day Great Britain to settlement by humans and at the same time closed off the Americas from further migration of people by foot across Beringea and it formed the present oceans.  In North America it resulted in the Great Lakes and the course of the Ohio River.  It scoured out the Finger Lakes in NY and others in many states and determined the courses of the river systems.

The rivers and lakes were the roads of the undeveloped country and the natives had established many trails and portages which connected them.  When the Europeans first arrived by ocean it was first into the bay and then up the larger Rivers, tidal straights actually, that the Europeans sailed.  When Europeans first settled it was first along the bays, then the rivers, and finally they used the established trails as they moved inland.  As north America had no large pack animal prior to European introduction of the horse, movement of goods was by water or foot with larger waterbodies allowing movement of larger qualities of goods.  When the French, Dutch, English, and Spanish vied for control of eastern North America it was along the same paths that the natives used to wage tribal wars against one another or to trade or access hunting lands and fishing areas.

The Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) are a series of interconnected fresh water lakes  which comprise about 84% of North Americas fresh water.  Stretching from Ontario, Canada and Minnesota in the U.S. to Quebec, Canada and New York in the U.S they then connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River from lake Ontario flowing northeast into the Gulf of St. Lawrence in New Brunswick Canada. Tributaries feeding into this form the Great Lakes Basin.

The Atlantic Seaboard Basin consists of river watersheds; Susquehanna, Hudson, Savannah, Delaware, Yadkin, and Potomac among other smaller ones.  The Susquehanna Basin starts at Otsego Lake which feeds the North Branch of the Susquehanna in NY flowing southwest and the West Branch in PA flowing east, then south and southeast through PA to MD where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay.

The Delaware Basin starts on the west side of the Catskill Mountains at the East Branch in Delaware County, NY and the West Branch in Schoharie County, NY flowing southeast and combined flowing south traveling through NJ, PA (Philadelphia) and DE. 

The Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin has headwaters at the Appalachian ridge in in VA and the main branch in NC flowing east and then south through NC and SC entering the Winyuh Bay and then the Atlantic.  The Savanah Basin is the Tugalo and Chatooga Rivers which form to make the Savannah River.  It flows southeast and is much of the border between SC and GA draining into the Atlantic Ocean.  

The Potomac Basin starts on the North Branch in MD (a small part in WV) flowing east and the South Branch flowing northeast with headwaters in VA and the River mostly in WV, when the branches combine they flow southeast into the Chesapeake Bay in MD, DC and VA. The Shenandoah River originates on 2 forks in WV and VA combining and running northeast and it is a tributary of the Potomac at Harpers Ferry, WV. 

The Hudson River Basin starts in the Adirondack Mountains and flows south then east then south again.  It is met just north of Troy, NY by the Mohawk River.  The Schoharie Creek originates in the Catskill Mountains and flows north to feed the Mohawk River.  The Mohawk River originates on the west side of the Adirondack Mountains and flows east-southeast to the Hudson River.   At Troy NY the Hudson River becomes a tidal estuary flowing south to Manhattan.

The Gulf of Mexico Basin is fed by the Rio Grande and Mississippi River Watershed.  The Mississippi River watershed extends from the Rocky Mountains in the West to the Great Lakes Basin and all the area west of the Appalachian Mountains.  It includes the Ohio River on its eastern side and the Missouri River on the west.  The Ohio River starts at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers in Pittsburg and flows west-southwest to the Mississippi River.  The Ohio River is fed by the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers near the confluence of the Mississippi River.  The Mississippi Basin covers 32 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces encompassing over 1.1 million square miles traveling from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico in New Orleans.

The Hays from Ulster entered PA by the Delaware Bay in PA, most likely Philadelphia.  From there they settled in Derry PA.  Migration continued down the Shenandoah River Valley to Roanoke, VA.  Migrations of the Hays’ from there continued along the valley but was stopped by the Appalachian Ridge and the control of the land by natives.  Here the migration turned into the Yadkin River Valley until such time as land began to open in TN.  The Watauga settlement was started as exploration through the Cumberland Gap as did explorations of TN and KY and Hays’ would settle in both East TN, middle TN, and KY before migrating further west from there.  There were Hays’ at the Cumberland Settlement, the first settlement of Nashville.  My Hays line went from Augusta, VA to Greene, TN (near the Watauga Settlement and Knoxville).  There was a Hays, a son in law, with Daniel Boone when he explored and settled KY.  

New York State was a central point in the navigation of the east.  The Hudson River was tidal to North of Albany and thus navigable by larger ships and could be followed further north, then overland to Lake George north to portage to Lake Champlain and again on foot to access the St. Lawrence River and present day Quebec and Montreal.  To travel west from Albany one would overland to bypass the Cohoes Falls to present day Schenectady and access the Mohawk River which provided access west of the Appalachian Range. A short portage to to Oneida Lake, Oneida River and the Oswego River brings one to Lake Ontario and access to inland America on the lakes.

The Schoharie Creek is a tributary to the Mohawk River with headwaters in the Catskill Mountains flowing north.   This provides access to the Delaware River headwaters as both waters are in Schoharie County in NY.  Or one could travel further west to the headwaters of the Susquehanna River.  Inversely, from Chesapeake Bay or Delaware Bay one could follow that river to the Schoharie Creek, the Mohawk River, and the Oneida Lake route to the Great Lakes.

The Ohio River with headwaters in western PA, and a short distance from Lake Erie, flows through the eastern U.S. meeting the Mississippi River North of TN.  The Cumberland River flows from KY into middle TN (Nashville) turning northwest into KY to meet the Ohio River upstream of the confluence with the Mississippi River.  The Tennessee River flows through Eastern TN (Knoxville) southwest into northern Alabama then northeast back into western TN then KY meeting the Ohio River in between the Cumberland River and the Mississippi River.  The Watauga River is a tributary to the South Holiston River and the Tennessee River entering near Knoxville. All these rivers are relevant as we look at the Hays diaspora across America.

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